St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Alex Cobb tossed seven strong innings to
lead the Tampa Bay Rays past the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, in the opener of a
three-game set at Tropicana Field.

Cobb (11-9) surrendered one run on two hits and two walks while striking out
seven for the Rays, who have won 11 of their last 12.

Tampa Bay's surge came too late, though, as the Oakland Athletics topped the
Texas Rangers later on Monday to clinch the AL's final wild card spot.

Ben Zobrist homered and Chris Gimenez hit a two-run double in the victory,
while Fernando Rodney stranded the tying runs on base in the ninth inning to
record his 47th save of the season.

Wei-Yin Chen (12-11) allowed four runs -- one earned -- on six hits and a walk
through 6 2/3 innings for Baltimore, which fell a game behind the Yankees
for the top spot in the AL East after New York defeated the Boston Red Sox on
Monday.

"We're playing this like every other game we're playing this year," Orioles
catcher Matt Wieters said. "We're going out there trying to win every game and
we'll forget about this going into tomorrow."

Zobrist broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a
leadoff blast to left field.

The Orioles stranded a runner on second in the sixth inning before Wieters
knotted the game at 1-1 in the seventh with home run over the wall in left
field.

But Tampa Bay went back on top in the bottom of the frame as Evan Longoria
reached base on third baseman Manny Machado's fielding error, moved to third
on a Jeff Keppinger single and raced home on Ben Francisco's sacrifice fly to
left field.

Sam Fuld followed with a base hit to right field to place runners on the
corners before Gimenez slapped a double into the right-field corner, plating
pinch-runner Rich Thompson and Fuld for a 4-1 lead.

"I was just trying to get a pitch to hit," Gimenez said about his double.
"Thankfully I was able to do it."

B.J. Upton led off the eighth with a double and later came home on Carlos Pena
groundout to increase the Rays' advantage.

Kyle Farnsworth allowed Chris Davis' two-run homer off the catwalk in the
ninth inning to bring Baltimore within 5-3.

Rodney entered next and allowed back-to-back singles to Adam Jones and
Wieters, but then struck out Jim Thome and Mark Reynolds, and induced a
grounder back to the mound by pinch-hitter Endy Chavez to end the game.

Game Notes

Cobb has won seven of his last eight decisions ... Chen has not earned a win
in seven straight starts ... Baltimore leads the season series between the
teams, 9-7 ... The Orioles were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and
left five men on base ... Tampa Bay went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring
position and stranded five.